“No ma’am,” Ray said, leaning his elbows on the table.
He’d been very quiet through it all. And more importantly, he hadn’t made eye contact with Sloan either. A fact that broke her heart. As much as she liked Aaron and kissing Aaron, she hated that she had hurt Ray. Why did things have to be so complicated?
“She asked us Sunday about the flowers, but we never saw them.
“They think I’m crazy,” Sloan threw in there for good measure. Finally, Ray’s eyes found hers.
“I don’t think you’re crazy.”
“I know. Aaron told me the same thing outside.”
“It’s not the only thing Aaron told you,” Ray muttered.
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing.” He sure didn’t have a hard time looking at her now. His eyes had changed from being angry to hurt in a split second.
“You have no reason to be hurt,” she reminded him. “We aren’t even dating.” Awesome. They were having this conversation in front of an audience. Perfect.
“We’re going to the prom.”
“Because we have to. Rules. Aaron can’t go.” Once she’d said it, she instantly regretted it. His face fell, and she swore he was gripping the island like she was. “No, look. I didn’t mean that. I’m just tired and upset and there were letters on this table in red rose petals when I got home, and they’re gone now so I’m a little freaked out, okay? Don’t listen to me today, okay? I don’t know what I’m doing.”
Apparently, making him feel better made Aaron feel worse. From the corner of her eye, she saw his brows furrow. She needed a script writer to get through this day.
“Can we just not take anything I say literally right now? My head feels funny and I’m sort of nervous, if you haven’t noticed. Okay?”
She could tell by both boys’ body language that it wasn’t okay. Tears welled up in her eyes. For the past few months, she’d worked so hard to get along with both of them, not choosing because she didn’t want to lose either of them. Now she might have lost both.
She couldn’t take this anymore. “I’m going to my room. I’m sorry for all of this.” She ran past her mother and Ray, up the stairs, and to her room. She locked the door behind her and fell on her bed. Her head pounded behind her eyes, and she just needed some relief.
Knowing she wasn’t a druggie, she grabbed the aspirin bottle from her bag and took two with a sip of water. She fell on the bed and hugged up to her pillow. It had been one of the worst days ever. A stalker — maybe, Boyd in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, Ray hating her, Aaron kissing her.
Okay, the Aaron kissing her part wasn’t terrible. It had been wonderful at the time. Now, not so much.
Why couldn’t she have both of them? Why did she have to hurt either of them? Why did things have to change? “God,” she prayed toward the ceiling. “I know You’re up there and You know what’s going on, but I don’t. Please, help me out and give me a clue. Am I crazy, God? Am I making all of this up? Is it head trauma making me think I’m seeing things when I’m not? Or do I honestly have a stalker who threatened to attack my mother if I told the police? Will the police even listen to me if I told them? Everyone else thinks it’s in my mind.”
She rubbed her eyes, sleepiness taking her over. “And how can he get inside my house? The roses. ICU. What does it mean, God? What? A clue would be awesome right about now. Amen.”
Sloan shut off her light and hugged her pillow tighter. Tomorrow was Wednesday. If things went according to the pattern she’d get two roses with something about two days before the Fall… whatever that meant. If she didn’t get them, then what? And what if she did? If she did, the first thing she’d do was to show her mother, then Ray and Aaron. Let them know she wasn’t crazy.
Her eyelids became heavy as she gave up trying to fight sleep. Tomorrow would come whether she was well rested or not. Might as well sleep.
So she did.
CHAPTER SIX
Two Days Before the Fall…
SLOAN ROLLED OVER AND ABUSED THE alarm clock on her nightstand for daring to yell at her that it was six o’clock. Stupid piece of machinery.
She got up and went to the bathroom. While brushing her teeth, she peeked in the mirror to make sure the blinds were down and no one could see her. They were. Then again, if she’d made Mr. ICU up, he couldn’t see her from the street anyway, right?
After getting her teeth brushed and some makeup on to cover the big ugly scar, she went to her closet. She moved the candy apple red dress hanging in a clear plastic bag over. She loved that dress. The prettiest she’d seen for the prom. And now she wasn’t sure she’d get to use it. If Ray didn’t want to take her now, she understood. She had made out with his brother with him just inside the door.